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NEW    HAMPSHIRE'S    ENSLAVEMENT    BY    THE 

FKEE  PASSES,  THE  ALE  AND  RUM  AND 

THE   CORRUPTION  MONEY   OF 

THE  RAILROADS. 


THE  PEOPLE'S  $3,000,000  IN  THE  CONCORD  RAILROAD, 


INSUFFICIENT    RAILROAD    TAXATION. 


SENATOR    CHANDLER'S     REVIEW    OF  "THE    BOOK  OF    BARGAINS." 


In    two    series   of    articles  printed 
within    the    last   year  it  has  been  my 
duty  (1)  to  repel  a  false,  malicious,  and 
injurious    charge  made  against  me  by 
three     corrupt    co- conspirators    and 
slanderers,  Jacob  H.  Gallinger,Herman 
W.  Greene,    and    Cyrus  A.  Sulloway; 
(2)  to    expose    a  treasonable  bargain 
I  arranged    by    said    Greene  and  other 
Republicans    after    the  close  election 
of   November  4th,  1890,  to  sell  the  re- 
sult to  the  Democratic  leaders,  Frank 
Jones,  Charles  A.  Sinclair,  and  others 
and    to    elect  against  truth  and  right 
Charles  H.  Arnsden  governor  instead 
of  HIRAM  A.  TUITLE;  (3)  to  exhibit 
to  the  people  the  condition  of  slavery 
[which    prevails,     under   which  Jones 
and  Sinclair,  ale  brewers  and  railroad 
millionaires,  by  means  of  illegal  free 
[passes  and  railroad  corruption  money 
lave    completely   subjugated  to  their 
>ase  uses  all  the  Democrats,  a  vicious 
[body  of  mercenary  Republicans,  the 
jdicors,  the  lawyers,  and  substantially 
the  public  officials  from  governor 


down  to  the  lowest  doorkeeper;  with  the 
consequences  of  enormously  increased 
drunkenness  and  brutal  crime, the  issue 
of  millions  of  watered  railroad  stock, 
the  larceny  with  the  approval  of  the 
supreme  court  judges  of  the  state's 
interest,  worth  $2,000,000,  in  the  Con- 
cord railroad,  the  grossest  evasion  of 
taxation  by  the  railroad  companies, 
the  success  of  swindling  endowment 
orders,  and  through  these  corruptions 
and  crimes  the  widespread  degrada- 
tion of  society  and  the  debasement  of 
public  and  private  morality  in  New 
Hampshire;  and  (4)  to  point  out  the 
great  Republican  peril  which  has 
resulted  and  the  sure  way  of  Republi- 
can safety  and  success  in  the  coming 
political  canvass  of  1892. 

A  careful  review  at  this  time  of  all 
that  has  been  written,  made  with  the 
sincere  desire  to  withdraw  any  mis- 
statement  of  fact,  to  modify  any 
exaggerated  expression,  and  to  qual- 
ify any  unjust  criticism  of  the  action 
of  others,  does  not  lead  me  to  an- 


nounce  any  change.  This  remarkable 
fact  is  to  be  noticed  that  from  no  one 
of  the  persons  or  interests  assailed 
has  there  proceeded  any  denial  of  any 
facts  charged.  They  might  all  well 
enough  feel  at  perfect  liberty  not  to 
reply  to  expressions  of  opinion  or  to 
mere  denunciation.  But  clear  and 
specific  statements  of  fact,  widely 
published,  which  are  exceedingly  de- 
rogatory to  individuals  and  condem- 
natory of  important  organizations, 
private  and  public,  cannot  be  allowed 
to  pass  for  a  long  period  undenied 
without  an  inference  which  becomes 
conclusive  with  lapse  of  time  that  the 
facts  charged  are  absolutely  true. 
Therefore  what  has  been  written 
stands  as  written  and  all  specific  facts 
charged  remain  undenied,  unim- 
peached,  and  substantially  admitted. 
The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  only  to 
restate  and  reinforce  the  case  in  re- 
spect of  a  few  living  subjects  which 
vastly  concern  the  taxpaying  people 
of  New  Hampshire. 

I. 

THE  PEOPLE'S  $3,000,000  IN  THE  CON- 
CORD RAILROAD. 

The  state  has  an  interest  worth  more 
than  two  and  one  quarter  million  dol- 
lars in  the  Concord  railroad;  and 
ought  to  obtain  that  amount  and  ap- 
ply it  to  the  payment  of  the  state  debt 
which  is  $2,260,000.  The  state's  right 
was  reserved  in  the  17th  section  of 
the  charter  of  the  road  granted  in 
1835.  It  was  to  take  the  whole  prop- 
erty of  the  stockholders  after  20 
years  by  paying  them  the  cost  of  the 
road  and  any  arrears  of  dividends  be- 
low 10  per  cent.  The  cost  was  $1,500,- 
000  and  the  arrears  of  dividends  below 
10  per  cent,  have  been  during  50  years 
$660,000,  making  $ 2, 1(50,000  the  exact 


sum  the  state  is  bound  to  pay  in  order 
to  satisfy  the  stockholders  and  to  be- 
come the  owner  in  the  name  of  the 
people  of  all  the  property.  The  road 
is  worth  at  the  present  market  value 
of  the  stock  of  over  170  at  least  the 
sum  of  $5,160,000;  or  $3,000,000  more 
than  the  state  must  pay  for  it. 

Moreover,  the  right  of  the  people 
to  take  the  Concord  railroad  remained 
undisputed  for  more  than  50  years. 
No  citizen,  lawyer,  or  judge  ever  sug- 
gested or  argued  that  the  right  given 
by  the  17th  section  had  gone.  Before 
the  Hall- Cogs  well- Sturtevant  com- 
mission the  counsel  for  the  road  ad- 
mitted the  state's  right  to  take  the 
road  and  the  commission  so  reported 
to  the  legislature.  The  road  argued 
.that  its  stockholders  should  be  paid 
interest  on  the  $2,160,000,  but  simple 
interest  would  only  amount  to  $1,000, 
000  and  if  the  state  pays  that  interest 
it  will  pay  only  $3,000,000  and  the  road 
is  worth  $2,000,000  more  than  it  would 
thus  cost.  Why  then  are  no  effective 
steps  taken  to  obtain  the  value  of  the 
people's  interest  in  the  Concord  rail- 
road ?  The  reasons  are  easily  to  be 
seen. 

The  Concord  railroad  with  its  small 
cost  and  enormous  earning  capacity — 
its  cost  of  $1,500,000  and  its  value  of 
$5,000,000— has  been  for  years  a  sub- 
ject of  contemplated  larceny  by  rail- 
road speculators.  It  was  in  fact  stolen 
twice  under  cunning  legal  contriv- 
ances ;  once  long  ago  by  the  Northern 
and  Montreal  companies  jointly,  and 
again  lately  by  the  Boston  &  Maine 
railroad,  and  the  supreme  court  only 
with  great  reluctance  and  after  much 
delay  compelled  the  robbers  to  let  go 
their  hold. 

A  third  larceny  has  been  committed 
by  the  directors  of  theConcord  railroad 


3 


themselves-  They  organized  a  syndi- 
cate and  bought  at  low  rates  the  con- 
trolling stock  interest  in  the  Montreal 
road  and  then  united  the  two  roads  so 
that  the  surplus  value  of  the  Concord 
should  go  to  make  extremely  valuable 
their  stock  in  the  Montreal.  They,  as 
trustees  of  a  living  road,  bought  a 
road  which  was  almost  a  corpse  and 
tied  the  living  to  the  dead  in  order  to 
revive  the  dying  at  the  expense  of  the 
living,  to  their  own  vast  personal 
profit.  They  have  made  millions  of 
dollars  for  themselves,  but  they  have 
done  it  by  stealing  from  the  state  the 
surplus  value  of  the  Concord  railroad 
over  $2,000,000,  which  belonged  to  the 
people  as  clearly  as  does  the  state 
house  at  Concord. 

Of  course  this  gross  plunder  of  the 
people  by  a  railroad  syndicate  could 
not  have  been  accomplished  without 
the  aid  of  a  submissive  governor,  a 
subjugated  legislature,  and  an  un- 
faithful judiciary.  Neither  of  the 
three  was  lacking.  The  question  of 
the  state's  interest  in  the  Concord 
railroad  was  forced  before  the  legis- 
lature of  1891  against  the  objections 
of  all  the  railroad  hirelings,  both 
within  and  without  that  body.  The 
house  asked  certain  questions  of  the 
judges; — and  here  began  one  of  the 
worst  judicial  wrongs  ever  perpetrat- 
ed in  a  free  community. 

For  some  reason  the  Concord  rail- 
road managers  have  always  in  recent 
years  been  able  to  command  a  major- 
ity of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court 
of  New  Hampshire.  This  demand  for 
$2,000,000  in  the  name  of  the  people 
pressed  the  company  into  the  closest 
strait  in  which  it  ever  found  itself  and 
it  fell  back  upon  the  last  and  strong- 
est of  the  lines  of  defence  which  for 
years  it  had  been  building;  the  judges. 


The  railroad  syndicate  did  not  trust 
in  vain  to  their  friends  in  exceeding 
high  places.  But  the  result  seemed  to 
astonish  even  themselves.  There  is 
nothing  like  audacity  in  judicial  mis- 
conduct. It  is  safer  than  hesitating 
mi  t»  judgment.  The  judges  on  March 
30,  1891,  heard  Messrs.  H.  G.  Sargent 
and  Wayne  MacVeaghin  behalf  of  the 
people  and  M-.  F.  S.  Streeter  for  the 
railroad.  The  very  next  day  Judges 
Doe,  Allen,  Smith,  Clark,  and  Biod- 
gett  wrote  to  the  house  of  representa- 
tives in  substance  that  the  17th  sec- 
tion of,  the  Concord  railroad  charter 
was  void  and  of  no  force  or  effect 
whatever,  and  that  the  road  could  not 
be  taken  at  all  under  that  section. 
This  was  a  most  amazing  announce- 
ment. For  50  years  no  human  being 
had  ever  doubted  the  validity  of  the 
17th  section.  The  railroad  company 
had  admitted  its  existence  in  full 
force  and  had  only  contended  for  the 
payment  of  interest  on  the  arrears  of 
dividends.  On  the  hearing  before 
the  judges  the  question  of  interest 
had  been  the  only  point  seriously 
argued  except  that  the  railroad  for 
the  first  time  through  Mr.  Streeter 
feebly  suggested  that  the  act  of  1889 
authorizing  the  union  of  the  Montreal 
with  the  Concord  road  had  operated 
as  a  surrender  of  the  state's  right  in 
the  latter  road,  to  which  it  was  con- 
clusively answered  that  the  14th  sec- 
tion of  the  act  of  1889  contained  these 
words:  "Nothing  in  this  act  shall 
impair  any  rights  or  interests  the 
state  may  have  *  *  *  in  the  Con- 
cord railroad." 

But  the  astounding  assertion  was 
made  by  the  judges  that  the  17th  sec- 
tion was  gone.  No  reasons  whatever 
were  given  for  this  opinion  but  rea- 
sons were  promised  at  some  future 


M175620 


day.  Nine  months  have  elapsed  and 
they  have  not  been  given.  None  are 
likely  to  be  given  for  none  exist 
which  can  be  given.  TJiere  never  was 
an  opinion  so  utterly  at  variance  with 
all  truth,  so  utterly  destitute  of  all 
legal  logic,  so  founded  on  error  and 
so  unsupported  by  anything  resem- 
bling argument. 

Prior  to  this  date  I  have  said  that  I 
believed  that  the  monstrous  opinion 
of  the  judges  was  as  much  of  a  sur- 
prise to  the  Concord  railroad  counsel 
and  owners  as  it  was  to  everybody 
else.  I  have  changed  that  belief.  I 
am  now  convinced  that  before 
the  railroad  and  their  lobbyists  a- 
round  the  legislature  consented  to  al- 
low the  house  to  ask  for  the  opinion 
of  the  judges,  an  intimation  was  given 
to  them  that  they  could  safely  do  so 
and  could  rely  upon  the  court  to  take 
care  of  the  company.  Upon  receiv- 
ing that  intimation  the  syndicate  felt 
at  ease ;  submitted  the  question  involv- 
ing two  millions  of  dollars  upon  an 
argument  made  by  only  one  counsel, 
Mr.  Streeter;  and  the  correspondent 
of  their  subsidized  newspaper  on  the 
evening  of  March  30th  confidently 
telegraphed  to  the  Union:  "The  con- 
sensus of  public  opinion  tonight  is 
that  the  court  will  decide  that  the 
state  waived  its  right  a  ad  has  now  no 
interest  in  the  Concord  railroad." 

Several  months  after  the  opinion 
was  given  and  while  a  curious  legal 
profession  and  a  defrauded  people 
were  looking  for  the  reasons  for  the 
atrocious  opinion  of  the  judges  this 
information  came  to  me:  That  one 
of  the  judges  said  that  there  would  be 
a  surprise  when  the  reasons  were 
given;  that  it  would  be  shown  that 
the  17th  section  of  the  charter  was 
repealed  by  a  statute  passed  more 


than  20  years  ago;  that  when  the 
judges  went  into  consultation  one  of 
them  produced  this  statute,  it  was  ac- 
cepted as  conclusive,  and  the  opinion 
was  based  upon  it,  but  it  was  agreed 
that  its  existence  should  be  kept  se- 
cret until  the  reasons  for  the  opinion 
should  be  published.  For  a  long  time 
I  refused  to  credit  this  story.  But 
since  the  chief  justice  has  stated  that 
the  opinion  was  based  upon  a  point 
not  alluded  to  in  the  argument  I  have 
come  to  believe  that  the  narrative 
given  to  me  was  true.  What  a  mar- 
velous judicial  picture  is  thus  pre- 
sented. A  claim  of  the  people  of  New 
Hampshire  against  the  Concord  rail- 
road for  $2,000,000  submitted  to  the 
judges;  and  argued  by  counsel  on 
both  sides.  One  of  the  judges  knows 
a  statute  which  he  thinks  repeals  the 
law  upon  which  the  claim  is  based 
He  does  not  call  it  to  the  attention  of 
the  counsel.  He  does  produce  it  at 
the  private  consultation  of  the  judges, 
forces  a  sudden  decision  in  favor  of 
the  railroad  company  on  that  point 
alone,  and  arranges  an  agreement  by 
which  the  judges  are  to  keep  secret 
the  statute  until  he  sees  fit  to  surprise 
the  public  with  it  at  a  future  day. 
The  case  would  be  bad  enough  if 
there  were,  in  fact,  such  a  repealing 
statute.  What  shall  be  said  of  the 
performance  when  no  such  statute 
exists?  Can  judicial  chicanery  and 
misbehavior  go  further?  As  soon  as 
the  chief  justice  stated  that  the  case 
had  been  decided  upon  a  point  not 
argued  by  counsel,  application  was 
duly  made  for  a  rehearing,  which  has 
not  been  granted.  The  judges  are 
willing  to  give  a  rehearing  if  they  can 
first  make  sure  they  can,  after  fur- 
ther argument,  adhere  to  their  former 
opinion.  As  they  have  discovered 


that  they  cannot  so  adhere,  a  rehear- 
ing is  to  be  refused. 

Of  course  a  court  composed  of  judges 
capable  of  such  subserviency  to  a 
railroad  company  could  not  continue 
to  exist  a  year  except  in  an  enslaved 
community.  New  Hampshire  is  in 
the  iron  grasp  of  two  corrupt  railroad 
rings.  By  free  passes,  mileage  tickets, 
money,  and  other  appliances  every 
branch  of  the  government — executive, 
legislative,  and  judicial — is  held  in  a 
bondage  as  oppressive  as  that  which 
the  English  people  sundered  by  cut- 
ting off  the  head  of  Charles  the  First, 
and  the  French  people  by  the  revolu- 
tion of  1789.  It  is  melancholy  enough 
to  have  the  newspapers  smothered 
and  the  lawyers  dishonorably  silenced. 
It  is  dangerous  enough  to  have  the 
executive  and  the  legislature  possess 
ed  by  railroad  corruptions.  But  the 
degradation  is  complete  and  damning 
when  the  judiciary  passes  under  the 
yoke  and  beeomes  the  facile  tool  of 
soulless  and  corrupt  corporations. 
Such  a  judiciary  can  be  reformed  and 
reorganized  by  the  people  together 
with  the  executive  and  the  legislature, 
none  too  soon. 

II. 

THE  EVASION  OP  TAXATION  BY  THE 
CONCORD  &  MONTREAL  AND  THE 
BOSTON  &  MAINE  RAIL- 
ROADS. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  by  man  or 
newspaper  to  deny  any  of  the  facts  or  to 
refute  any  of  the  arguments  which  I 
have  presented  showing  the  gross  un- 
dervaluation for  taxation  of  the  rail- 
roads of  New  Hampshire.  Yet  the 
Laconia  Democrat  of  October  19th,  a 
subsidized  newspaper,  owned  by  a 
free  pass,  anti-Cogswell  councillor, 
glories  over  the  fact  that  the  state  board 


of  equalization  for  the  present  year 
"have  calmly  gone  their  way  along 
their  old  lines"  and  valued  and  assessed 
the  railroads  for  1891  substantially  as 
they  did  for  1890.  This  is  true,  and 
more  shame  to  the  board.  Councillor 
Lewis's  corrupt  jeer  is  like  William 
M.  Tweed's  taunt  of  those  who  com- 
plained of  his  criminal  robberies  of 
the  taxpayers  of  New  York  city: 
"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 

It  is  due  to  Mr.  John  M.  Hill,  chair- 
man of  the  state  taxation  board,  to- 
gay  that  he  has  constantly  urged  in- 
creased taxation  of  the  railroads;  and 
I  am  informed  that  he  does  not  ac- 
cept free  passes  but  pays  his  fare  like 
350,000  other  citizens.  This  statement 
accords  with  his  character  a*  a  man  of 
personal  integrity  and  honor.  The 
regret  is  that  he  does  not  make  an 
issue  with  the  other  members  of  the 
board  instead  of  submitting  to  the 
decisions  of  his  wicked  partners.  The 
issue  would  go  to  the  supreme  court 
whose  creatures  the  board  are,  and  if 
not  rightly  decided  by  the  court  would 
get  to  the  people  at  last. 

The  board  for  1891  have  valued  the 
railroads  at  $20,795,000  instead  of  $20,- 
770,000  as  for  1890.  They  changed  their 
deduction  from  their  estimate  of  the 
actual  value  from  12  per  cent,  to  6  per 
cent,  and  fixed  the  rate  at  $1.48  instead 
of  $1.50,  making  the  whole  tax  $283,- 
042.72  instead  of  $268,018  62  as  in  1890. 
Their  changes  in  the  valuations  of  the 
various  roads  are  slight.  The  Ports- 
mouth, Great  Falls  &  Con  way  sum 
of  $500,000  has  gone  into  the  Boston  & 
Maine,  raising  the  latter  from  $2,250,- 
000  to  $2,750,000.  The  Cheshire  and 
Monadnock  have  gone  into  the  Fitch- 
burg,  making  the  sum  $1,635,000.  The 
Whitefield  &  Jefferson  appears  for 
the  first  time  at  $125,000,  but  the  Grand 


6 


Trunk  ia  reduced  from  $600,000  to 
$500,000,  leaving  the  net  increase  on 
all  the  roads  only  $25,000  as  above 
stated. 

It  is  easily  to  be  understood  that  the 
baard  can  disregard  the  inquiry  of 
any  citizen  and  defy  public  opin- 
ion, because  they  are  unconstitution- 
ally appointed  and  protected  by  su 
preme  court  judges  holding  office  for 
life,  and  who  are  themselves  existing 
under  degrading  subserviency  to  the 
railroads. 

But  there  are  some  taxpayers— there 
may  come  to  be  more— who  demand 
light  from  the  judges  and  the  board 
on  several  points. 

FIRST. 

Why  are  the  Concord  &  Montreal 
railroad  properties  valued  at  only  the 
sum  of  $6,000,000  to  which  sum  the 
board  had  arbitrarily  reduced  it  after 
they  themselves  have  found  its  stock 
and  bonds  to  be  worth  as  follows: 

$3,000,000  Concord  stock  at  150,  $4,500,000 

800,000  Montreal  preferred  at  130,  1,040,000 

1,000,000  M  ontreal  common  at  70,  700,000 

4,128,000  Montreal  bonds  at  par,  4,128,000 


Total  value,  as  they  found  it,  $10,368,000 

The  taxpayers  ask  the  board:  Up- 
on what  principle  or  for  what  reasons 
did  you  substitute  $6,000,000  for  $10,- 
368,000  as  the  value  for  taxation  of  the 
Concord  &  Montreal  railroad  proper- 
ties? It  could  not  have  been  done  in 
order  to  reduce  the  railroad  values  as 
other  values  are  supposed  to  be  re- 
duced by  the  local  assessors,  for  you 
subsequently  proceeded  to  make  a 
formal  decision  that  other  property 
had  been  reduced  for  taxation  six  per 
cent,  and  to  take  that  percentage 
from  the  $6,000,000  leaving  only  $5,- 
640,000  for  which  the  company  is  tax- 


ed. Why  did  you  change  the  actual 
value  of  $10,368,000  into  $6,000,000? 
Will  you  give  some  reason;  or  will 
you  and  your  masters,  the  judges  and 
the  railroads,  continue  to  stand  dumb? 
I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  boird 
strike  off  the  $4,000,000  because  the 
bonded  debt  is  about  that  amount. 
This  would  indeed  be  the  old  fraud  in 
a  new  guise.  The  poor  man's  mort- 
gaged farm  gets  no  reduction  for  tax- 
ation because  of  the  mortgage  which 
burdens  it  and  eats  out  his  little  sub- 
stance. Is  the  Concord  &  Montreal 
railroad  to  be  exempted  from 
taxation  to  the  amount  of  its  mort- 
gages? If  so  let  the  fact  be  bravely 
known  and  face  the  people  on  that  is- 
sue. That  outrage  was  voted  down 
in  1878;  doea  it  now  exist  in  defiance 
of  law,  but  by  order  of  the  judges? 

SECOND. 

Why  are  the  Boston  &  Maine  rail- 
road properties  in  New  Hampshire 
valued  at  only  $2,750,000.00. 


Their  total  assets  according  to  their 


own  boojis  are 


$42,862,993.58 


Not  taxed  in  New  Hampshire,        40,112,993  58 

Massachusetts  does  not  tax  so  much 
of    railroad  property    as    is 
represented  by  mortgage  bonds 
and  funded  debt.    But  the  Bos- 
ton and    Maine  even  then    is 
rated  in  that  state  for  taxation 
at  $15,400,000 

of  which  Massachusetts  says  $10,121,774  is  the 
proportionate  value  outside  her  borders. 

The  net  income  of  the  Boston  & 


$5,000,000.00 
37,142.97 

4,798.66- 


Maine  is 

and  the  road  pays  to  the  state  of 

Nf  w  Hampshire  for  taxes 
The  Eastern  road  pays  to  the  state 


making  a  total  from  Boston  &  Maine 

and  Eastern  of  $41,9)1.63 

New  Hampshire  towns  tax 

directly  the  B.  &  M.  on    $75,340 

and  the  Eastern  on  75,266 

making  $150,606, 

giving  an  additional  tax  at  $1.50  of         $2,256.00 

or  a  total  tax  in  New  Hampshire  of     $44,197.63 


The  state  of  Massachusetts  taxes  the 

Boston  &  Maine  and  Eastern  at  $344,217.10 

Her  towns  and  cities  also  tax 

the  B.&  M.  on  $2.112,255 

and  the  Eastern  on  2,662,970 

making  $4,775,225 

giving  an  additional  tax  at  $1.50  of       $71,628.30 


or  a  total  tax  in  Massachusetts  of       $415,845.40 
as  against  a  total  tax  in  New  B  amp- 
shire  of  $44,197.63 

Will  the  supreme  court  and  the 
board  of  equalization  condescend  to 
descend  from  their  lofty  elevation 
long  enough  to  tell  the  tax- payers  of 
New  Hampshire  how  they  reach  a 
Boston  &  Maine  valuation  of  $2,750,- 
000  and  an  Eastern  valuation  of 
$425,000  and  a  total  taxation  in  New 
Hampshire  of  $44,197.63,  as  against  a 
valuation  of  the  B.  &  M.  and  Eastern 
for  taxation  in  Massachusetts  of 
$18,389,891.50  and  a  total  taxation  of 
$415,845.50?  The  question  may  in- 
fringe on  the  dignity  of  the  court  and 
the  board,  but  it  is  strongly  impressed 
on  the  minda  of  many  tax -payers. 

THIRD. 

How  do  the  supreme  court  and  the 
state  board  ascertain  that  "the  entire 
taxable  property  of  the  state  has  been 
reduced  for  purposes  of  taxation  6 
per  cent,  of  its  actual  value;"  so  that 
they  proceed  to  take  6  per  cent,  from 
the  actual  railroad  valuation  and  to 
tax  only  the  remainder?  The  select- 
men and  local  assessors  are  sworn  to 
"appraise  all  taxable  property  at  its 
true  and  full  value  in  money  as  they 
would  appraise  the  same  in  payment 
of  a  just  debt  due  from  a  solvent 
debtor."— Sec.  1,  oh.  56,  page  147, 
Gen.  Laws. 

The  railroads  are  to  pay  taxes 
"upon  the  actual  value  of  the  road, 
rolling  stock  and  equipments  *  *  as 
near  as  may  be  in  proportion  to  the 
taxation  of  other  property  *  *  in 


the  several  towns  and  cities  in  which 
such  railroad  is  located."  The  state 
board  is  to  determine  the  actual  value 
and  the  rate  of  taxation. — Sees.  1  and 
2,  ch.  62,  page  159,  Gen.  Laws. 

This  year  the  court  and  board  say 
the  selectmen  and  local  assessors  have 
undervalued  the  property  6  per  cent  ; 
last  year  they  guessed  it  was  12  per 
cent.  This  year  they  guess  the  rate 
had  better  be  $1.48.  Last  year  they 
guessed  it  was  $1.50.  To  reach  these 
decisions  some  evidence  should  be 
examined.  What  was  it;  who  pro- 
cured and  submitted  it?  Are  there 
any  principles  and  rules  which  govern 
the  court  and  the  board  in  deciding 
upon  the  extent  of  the  undervalua- 
tions practiced  by  the  selectmen  and 
local  assessors  and  upon  the  rate  at 
which  railroads  shall  be  taxed,  or  are 
they  only  guesses  of  the  judges  in- 
timated to  the  board  ?  Can  light  be 
had? 

At  all  events,  nothing  can  be  more 
absurd  than  the  board's  decision  that 
in  1890  the  selectmen  and  assessors 
undervalued  12  per  cent,  and  in  1891,  6 
per  cent.  Did  the  assessors  change  to 
the  extent  of  6  per  cent.  ?  What  is  the 
evidence  that  they  did  ?  The  6  per 
cent,  decision  is  ridiculous;  a  mere 
guess  of  the  court  and  the  board  in 
order  to  make  a  little  less  unendura- 
ble the  greater  wrong  underneath,  by 
which  the  roads  whose  value  is  near- 
er 40  milions  than  20  are  brought 
down  below  the  latter  figure.  Either 
the  local  assessors  have  not  under- 
valued at  all  or  they  have  underval- 
ued more  than  6  per  cent.  What  a 
system  of  valuing  and  taxing  railroads 
does  our  court  and  board  bring  forth! 

While  waiting  for  answers  to  the 
foregoing  questions,  I  submit  an  esti- 
mate of  my  own,  as  the  lowest  possi- 


8 


ble  honest  and  just  valuation  that  can 
be  made: 

Valuation  for  Taxation  of  New  Hampshire 
Railroads. 


State  Board 
Valuation. 

Boston  &  Maine,  2,750,000 

Concord  &  Clarernont,  600,000 

Concord  &  Montreal,  6,000.000 

Concord  &  Portsmouth,  600,00  i 

Connecticut  River,  225,000 
Dover  &  Winneyesaukee,     375,000 

Eastern,  425000 

Fitchburg,  1,63>,000 

Grand  Trunk,  500,000 

Manchester  &  Keene,  12U,000 

Manchester  &  Lawrence,  1,500,000 
Manchester  &  North 

Weare,  80,000 
Mt.  Washington,  150,000 
Nashua,  Acton  <&  Boston,  20  000 
Nashua  <fe  Lowell,  400.000 
Northern,  2,250,000 
Peteroorough,  50,000 
Peterborough  &  Hills- 
borough,  70,000 
Portsmouth  &  Dover,  100,000 
Portland  &  Ogdensburg,  300.000 
Portland  &  Rochester,  30,000 
Profile  ^Franconia  Notch,  100,000 
Sullivan  County,  700,000 
Suncook  Valley.  140,000 
West  Amesbury  Branch,  20,000 
Whitefield  &  Jefferson,  125,000 
Wilton,  250,000 
Worcester,  Nashua  & 

Rochester,  1,200,000 

Woifeborough,  50,000 

Manchester,  Street,  30,000 


Approxi- 
mate true 
Value. 
7,000,000 
1,000,000 
10,  00,000 
1,200,000 
1,400,000 
600,000 
1,000  000 
V,OuO,000 
60(1,000 
120,000 
2,000,000 

80,000 

200,000 

50,000 

600.000 

3,300.000 

100,000 

150,000 
200,000 
650,000 
30,000 
150,000 
1,500,000 
300,000 
100,000 
125,000 
350,000 

2,500,000 
50,000 
30,000 


$37,785,000 


$20,795,000 

Assume  that  the  entire  taxable  ^ 
property  of  the  state  has  been 
reduced  for  taxation  25  per  cent 
of  its  actual  value  instead  of 
6  per  cent,  as  found  by 
the  State  Board  and  d.  duct 
one  fourth. 

Taxable  value, 
Deduct  amount  taxed  in  towns, 

Total  taxed  by  state  board, 
Tax  at  $1  50, 

Tax  actually  assessed  by  the 
state  board, 

Amount  of  tax  evaded  by  the 

railroads,  $     135,696.65 

The  foregoing  I  do  not  say  is  ab- 
solutely just.  I  have  grave  doubts  as 
to  the  justice  of  deducting  from  the 
true  value  of  the  railroads  25  per  cent. 
or  6  per  cent,  or  any  other  percentage 
to  equalize  railroad  valuations  with 
the  other  valuations  in  the  to^ns. 


9,446,250 


28,338,750 
422,792 

$27,915,958  00 
418,739.37 

283,342.72 


The  total  state  valuation  for  1891  as 
per  page  160  of  the  state  treasurer's  re- 
port of  June  1,  1891,  is  $188,493,573  and 
the  rate  of  taxation  is  the  highest  in 
Carroll  county, §2. 63, and  the  lowest  in 
Cheshire,  $1.30.  In  no  other  county  is 
the  rate  below  §1.50  while  the  average 
is  $1.67.  The  total  taxation  is  $3,142,- 
314.09.  In  view  of  these  figures  I  do 
not  believe  a  valuation  of  the  state 
railroads  of  $37,785,000,  and  a  taxation 
of  that  amount  without  reduction  at 
the  rate  of  $1.50  is  unfair.  But  even 
with  a  reduction  of  25  per  cent,  the 
tax  will  be  §135,696.65  more  than 
the  board  assess.  This  is  the  least 
amount  of  which  tho  railroads  yearly 
defraud  the  people.  The  court  and 
board  guess  at  values  and  rates  so  far 
as  we  know  and  the  guess  of  any  man 
who  pays  fare  on  the  railroads  is  as 
likely  to  be  correct  as  that  of  the 
court  and  the  board. 


Our  state  debt  is 
Our  town  debts  are 
Our  precinct  debts  are 
Our  county  debts  are 


$2,260,040.64 

6,078,957.88 

654,011.44 

644,430.82 


Making  a  total  debt  of  9,637,440.78 

We  are  not  so  rich  that  we  can  af- 
ford to  be  robbed  annually  of  the 
following  amounts  by  the  railroads: 

Taxation  evaded  not  less  than  $135,696.65 

10  per  cent,  dividends  on  $1,500,000 
watered  stock  4n  the  Concord 
railroad  150,000,00 

10  per  cent,  dividends  en  $2.000,000 
bonus  stock  in  Concord  &  Mont- 
real railroad  200,000.00 

10  per  cent,  dividends  on  $3,000,000 
bonus  stock  in  the  Boston  & 
Maine  railroad  300,000.00 


Making    annually 
less  than 


a   burden  of  not 


785,696.65 

in  order  that  a  few  thousand  execu- 
tive, legislative  and  judicial  officials, 
and  editors,  lawyers,  and  strikers  of 
both  political  parties  may  ride  free  on 
the  roads  while  350,000  citizens  pay 
full  fare. 


9 


Since  the  publication  of  my  earliest 
articles  on  inadequate  railroad  taxa- 
tion I  have  been  served  with  semi- 
official notice  from  both  the  railroads 
that  an  inquiry  would  be  instituted 
regarding  the  sufficiency  of  the  taxa- 
tion upon  my  own  property  and  that 
of  companies  with  which  I  am  con- 
nected. This  will  be  entirely  fair 
game  if  the  taxes  of  all  that  play  it 
are  exposed  to  public  view.  Fore- 
warned is  forearmed.  I  have  pro- 
cured a  statement  of  the  valuation  for 
taxation  of  all  the  New  Hampshire 
directors  in  the  Boston  &  Maine  rail- 
road, the  Concord  railroad  and  the 
Democratic  Press  association,  and 
await  with  pleasure  the  opening  of 
the  war  of  retaliation.  My  investi- 
gations so  far  show  me  as  well  as  I 
can  judge  a  far  less  undervaluation  of 
private  property  than  I  had  expected 
to  find.  I  believe  the  general  under- 
valuation throughout  the  state  is  much 
less  than  25  per  cent,  while  the  rail- 
road undervaluation  is  more  than  33 
per  cent.  The  public  can  determine, 
when  the  war  commences  and  they 
see  the  evidence. 

In  this  letter  I  have  endeavored  to 
avoid  repetition.  But  I  reaffirm  all  I 
have  written  in  relation  to  the  public 
and  private  injuries  resulting  from  the 
free  pass  and  free  mileage  book  system 
maintained  by  the  railroads  of  New 
Hampshire  together  with  their  other 
corrupt  arts  and  practices.  The  de- 
struction of  manhood  and  self  respect 
among  the  young  men  of  the  state  is 
most  deplorable.  The  highest  ambi- 
tion of  a  young  lawyer,  editor,  or  ris- 
ing young  man  in  any  walk  in  life  is 
to  obtain  the  distinction  of  riding  free 
on  the  railroads  while  others  pay. 


Jle  regards  his  free  pass  as  a  badge  of 
honor  instead  of  a  mark  of  degrada- 
tion as  it  is.  If  James  T.  Furber  were 
to  come  to  Concord  with  a  bag  full  of 
Boston  &  Maine  money,  drawn  if  feasi- 
ble from  the  Maverick  bank,  and  go 
about  offering  it  in  sums  from 
10  cents  up  to  $20  to  the 
ingenuous  youth  of  our  city,  saying, 
I  take  this  unlawfully  from  my  com- 
pany's treasury  and  give  it  to  you  so 
that  you  will  not  criticise  the  actions 
of  our  road  or  the  bank,  he  would  be 
hooted  out  of  the  city  at  the  risk  of 
his  life.  If  Mr.  B.  A.  Kimball  were  to 
make  small  deposits  of  railroad  money 
in  the  stores  of  Concord  to  be  credit- 
ed to  100  young  men  of  family  on  ac- 
count of  groceries  and  clothing,  he 
would  not  get  safely  back  to  his  cot- 
tage with  his  empty  purse.  Why 
should  any  one  wish  to  ride  free  at 
anothei's  expense?  Two  cents  per 
mile  is  cheap  riding  enough.  Pay  it 
and  preserve  your  pride  and  honor 
and  self  respect.  While  illegally  giv- 
ing free  transportation  to  you  and 
others  like  you,  the  railroads  are 
watering  their  stock,  preparing  for 
extortion,  disobeying  law,  evading 
taxation,  debasing  society,  enslaving 
the  officers  of  government,  and  dis- 
honoring the  state  in  which  we  live 
by  their  corrupt  practices  and  appli- 
ances. The  ancient  deadheads  are 
incorrigible.  But  the  young  men 
should  spurn  the  petty  bribes  and 
stand  up  for  obedience  to  law  by  the 
railroads  and  for  equality  of  right  to 
all  citizens  in  the  use  of  these  PUBLIC 
HIGHWAYS  of  the  state  of  Now  Hamp- 
shire. WILLIAM  E.  CHANDLER. 

November  18,  1891. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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